


024 - Meeting the Lids

by storiesaboutvan



Category: Catfish and the Bottlemen (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mini Fic, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 13:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17468360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesaboutvan/pseuds/storiesaboutvan
Summary: Filling the prompt “Pls could your write one about van introducing you to the boys for the first time?”





	024 - Meeting the Lids

You'd always defined family as being more than blood. When you met Van, you knew he felt the same. The way he talked about his friends, particularly Larry, was evidence of that. Van talking about pretty much anything was a joy to watch; his exaggerated facial expression, his wide hand gestures, the changing tone of his voice. But, when Van talked about his friends… well that was next level. You knew those boys were family, and you knew that when he asked if you wanted to get a drink with them Friday night that it meant you were crossing the line between friend and family too. It was a big deal, to say the least.

You knew bits and pieces about them all from the many stories, but as Van drove you through the city you asked for one more run-down of everyone. "Alright, so you got Larry, and he's me best mate. Don't know how we haven't seen him at home actually. You've been over enough." He was right. Van and Larry lived together yet you'd never had to awkwardly walk past him on the way out in the morning, you'd never needed to make him a cup of tea, you'd never even heard his bedroom door close quietly to not disturb you. 

"Benji's the one I've known forever. You'll like him because he loves Star Wars too." Bass player. Snapchat. Tito's. "Bob is super quiet so he probably won't say heaps, but it's nothing against ya or anything. Just how he is." Drummer. Takes good photos. Manners. "Then there's Bond, Johnny Bond. He's mad, he is. Did I show you that painting he got his mate for Christmas?" Van did, and you were incredibly impressed. Guitar. Velvet shirts. Instagram.

"Do you think they'll like me?" you asked.

"Babe. Course they will! Even if they don't it doesn't matter because I do,"

"But they will,"

"They will."

You and Van got to the pub before anyone else. At first you thought it was just luck, but fifteen minutes later you started to get suspicious.

"Why aren't the others here yet?" you asked. Van smiled a little.

"I got us here a bit earlier. So you could settle," he told you. You melted. You were sitting side by side, so you knocked into him gently and rested your head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of your head.

"Ayyyy, none of that mushy stuff," someone called. You sat up. Larry was walking to the table with Benji at his heels. Van stood, so you did too. They all hugged and you were so relieved to not have to watch some awkward repressed emotion bro-down.

"This is Y/N," Van said in a weird voice that you didn't really recognise. "Y/N, Larry, Benji," he introduced. You didn't know what movement you were meant to make, but it didn't much matter because Larry leant in and hugged you with a kiss on the cheek. Benji did the same, saying hi.

For a while, you listened to their banter with a smile. Most of the other guys you had dated tended to ignore you when they were around their friends. Not Van, though. He kept in physical contact with you at all times. He had a hand on your thigh, or an arm over your shoulder. Sometimes, and best of all - he'd turn and just look at you for a minute. There was no real reason to do so, but he did. He'd blink his blue eyes at you and you'd shake your head, and he'd smile.

It became clear Van had told them all about you when Benji asked what you thought of Rouge One. While you and Benji geeked out, you noticed Van and Larry give each other a look that you hoped was a good thing. You hoped it meant 'yes, Van, this is the one' and 'yes, Larry, I know, she's the best thing that's ever happened to me.'

As the sun began to set in the beer garden, Bondy and Bob arrived. Like the others, they both opted for a hug and a gentle kiss to the cheek. It was comfortable. Bob and Van went to get more drinks, leaving you alone with the rest.

"So, Y/N, why are you lowering your standards so much?" Bondy asked, his words mean but his tone full of love. You knew what he was really asking.

"You didn't see what I was dating before though," you replied. They laughed. "No. He's good. He's a good person."

"He likes you a lot. Like, he's probably already picked out baby names," Larry said.

"What was the last weird fucking name he said?" Bondy asked.

"He told me Niamh, with the traditional spelling. That's not weird," you said.

"That's because he's telling you the normal ones from the list," Benji informed you. "But he's telling you about them, which is something,"

"I'm telling her 'bout what?" Van asked as he placed drinks down.

"Baby names," from Larry.

"Yeah. She knows what I'm about."

As the night carried on, the sound of clinking glass and the nearby main road provided the soundtrack for the first of many late nights with the boys. You loved them. You loved them so quickly and so hard that you were all but worshiping them by the time you passed out on Bondy's lounge room floor using Van's stomach as a pillow. You weren't about to tell them all your feelings though. You were still trying to play it cool. As you drifted in and out of happy unconsciousness, you heard Bob say, "I think she loves us more than she loves you, mate." Van laughed a little, trying to not disturb you.

"Not a chance," he said. He was right.


End file.
